Communicating Trust

When Robert Caslen resigned as the President of the University of South Carolina, his resignation letter had an interesting sentence in it. He opened the letter by saying, “Trust is the most important ingredient of effective leadership, and when it is lost, it is nearly impossible to lead.”

This statement is powerful and so very true. But it begs another question: how do you build trust as a leader?

I think the answer to that question is simple – communication.

Now, of course, bad communication does not count. I should have been more specific and said that the answer is good communication.

Good communication is honest, honorable, compassionate, considerate, direct, and most importantly, consistent.

As a leader, you have to continue to work to earn the trust of your employees. You start earning that trust by employing good communication.

We can’t demand trust. It has to be earned, and not just earned once. You need to work to continually earn it. Once that trust is lost, it’s almost impossible to recover.

So, as you think about leadership and trust, ask yourself – how and what are you communicating to earn that trust?

Until next time…we are Advoco, make every minute count.

About Michelle: It’s hard to find someone that doesn’t like Michelle – she’s easy to talk to, she’s a wealth of knowledge about EAM, she’s relatable, and to top it all off, she’s fun to be around! Her Infor EAM life started at a university that used the product to manage facilities. She has since built up and manages our Post Implementation Consulting team. When Michelle isn’t helping our customers, you can find her in her garden preparing vegetables for canning or touring the Upstate on her motorcycle! Have a question for Michelle? Send her an email!

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